Mommy Brigade

Monday, August 8, 2011

Terrible Two's at 15 months?!

Alright Mommys! I need some serious help! I'm about to go a little bit crazy! (this post has horrible punctuation because I wrote this in like 5 minutes because I'm going nuts, so forgive me!)
Damon hates his naps, his bed time, and is throwing fits over everything!! He's always been a tough kid and never cries about anything! Now, if he falls down or doesn't get his way he throws himself on the floor and cries. He kicks his feet and even headbutts the floor! What the heck is going on? It's just been within the last week and I have no idea what's going on. He hates nap time. Or he hates his crib or something along those lines. He'll fall asleep on my lap and then as soon as I lay him down he wakes up and screams. If I hurry and leave he just cries forever and won't go back to bed. He used to just cry for a few minutes and fall right to sleep. Same thing with bed time. So I'm thinking separation anxiety or something like that. I googled it, of course, and it sounds like it's a common thing to get around his age. (15 months). It didn't really say anything in relation to the fits and not even really the sleeping except for the fact that they hate when you leave the room. SO I could use some help from your moms. I really hope this is just a phase and it'll be over soon. It's driving me crazy. He should not be giving up his naps this early! I'm not ready for that, and honestly he's not either. When he goes without his nap all day, come 6:00 he is sooo cranky and just cries because he's overtired. So I know he still needs his naps! But how do I get him to take them! Has this happened to anyone else? I need help!! Comments please!!

3 comments:

Has he ever had an ear infection? Kids don't like to sleep when they get those. The pressure changes in their ears when they lay down. You may want to try reading books or a quiet activity then putting him in his crib before he is really tired with a couple soft toys and let him play until he falls asleep. If my daughter gets too tired/exhausted she will refuse to take a nap without a huge fit. It is also the age that he wants to test you and see what he can get away with. Ignore his fits. Lots of kids do the headbutting thing but will outgrow it. My sister's son is about the same age (born march23) and he's been smacking his head on the floor, wall, everything for a while now when he gets mad. Their heads are tough. Just watch from a distance to make sure he doesn't hurt himself. If you make a big deal out of it he will continue doing it longer. Wow! This comment is getting really long. Hopefully things will get better soon. Good thing he's such a cute kid!

I agree with the above comment - take him to the doctor to check ears if you think it could be that, but otherwise, ignore the fits. Even negative attention is attention. As for his naps, I would try to figure out how long he needs to be awake before he goes down for a nap, then everyday put him down for a nap at that time (doing whatever routine you normally would for sleeptime). If he needs to scream for an hour after you lay him in his crib, then in my book, that's okay (I understand if you feel differently, of course). Whether he naps or not, I would pretend that he did, and figure out when the next nap would fall, and then do it again - the routine and the crib. I've been told that most babies take three days to adjust - and they can be a long three days (occasionally more), but once you get a nap schedule established, life goes so much better!